Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism

An excellent scholarly book. Great detail and very in depth analysis. Inevitable conclusion is the impossibility of molding an economic system out of a moral philosophy, not just Islam. That is where the problem with traditional Islamic thought arises, for most of its adherents, Islam is not just a set of moral principles but a way of life, dictating every aspect of it. Unavoidably, there was much effort by Islamists to set up a distinct system of banking and economy based on pure Islamic traditions. Prof. Kuran delves into the history of these movements, but he does more than that, he puts all this in cultural and political context. At the end, he bravely expands more on the general failure of Islamic culture and tradition to bring wealth and prosperity to the masses that follow it. Writing is very formal, not the easiest read and surley apporpriate only for the truly intersted in the general topic, but it was well worth it for this reader.

The central and most important point in this highly useful volume is that Islamic finance is an "invented tradition," which empowers Islamic radicals. Now, coming as it does from the University of Southern California King Faisal Professor of Islamic Thought, that statement represents years of study, and a great deal of courage."Neither classical nor medieval Islamic civilization featured banks in the modern sense, let alone `Islamic' banks...," Kuran continues.Western securities and banking regulators, legislators, bankers, money managers and securities lawyers, take note: Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna concocted the idea of Islamic banking in the 1920s to unite Muslims in one global Islamic nation (umma), to create a parallel financial system, and ultimately to help reestablish a global Islamic empire, subservient to shari'a law.These and many other such facts are things that radical sheiks and "shari'a finance scholars" do not want readers to know. Which is why anyone even remotely interested in shari'a finance should purchase and read this book, and keep it on their desk. It's invaluable.--Alyssa A. Lappen

The author is very likely a Kurdish nationalist, not implausibly a quite supporter of the PKK. As a Communist, he has no room for religion. His analysis is misleading, basically he runs after Muslims under the banner of Islamism, he seeks to undermine the Islamic religion to satisfy his own psychological needs. The author has suppervised the work of others who also claimed to have proved that Islam does not work. The author does not use objective scientific methods, he basically writes in a way that confirms his own priori conclusions. Read the book, if you wish, but with such qualifications in mind. You may read it to understand how the bigot's mind actually works.

The subject is "Islamic economics," a system which has the goal that all dealings be of equal benefit to all parties and, through the use of the "tax" for charity and inheritance law, there be a high degree of economic equality. Kuran examines all these issues seeing some advantages and the many quandaries that result. Importantly, in view of current problems and events, he explores the political significance of this type of economy in the lack of prosperity and the isolation of Muslims from the rest of the world.In his exploration of why the Islamic economy has lagged Europe for several centuries he calls into use his work on preference falsification (See his "Private Truths, Public Lies") in the inability of the economy and its rulers to self-correct when the economy was sliding downhill.Carol M Fuller

This is not a good book. It is rather descriptive in nature, poorly referenced, tests no hypotheses empirically and is too wordy. The author makes claims without any substantive evidence. He accumulates paragraphs and twists them in the way that leads him to his pre-assembled conclusions. The author does not seem to have the statistical tools of analysis, a great deficiency for a university professor. The author does not seem well-versed in the history of the Islamic world nor does he understand Islamic economics. He picks up few concepts he thinks will lead him to the conclusions he already knew, so he squeezes Islamic economics into a small area. Contrary to his claims, the main factor leading to the economic decline of the modern Muslim world is the adoption of Marxist ideology - almost every single Muslim country has adopted a Communist regime (leading to political repression by definition). This is not Islamic but rather Jewish Economics. Another factor, among others, would be colonization. Professor Kuran is not an expert on Islam, he would have done better had he sought endeavors in other areas that do not require rigorous empirical testing, perhaps literary work?.

This book provides a secular, academic examination of islamic economics, the strengths and weaknesses. Its not anti-islamic, and it was written by a respected academic scholar who is a muslim. Well written, well referenced and thought provoking. It should really be read in conjunction with a robust defence of islamic economics.